Joe Antoine, a 30-year resident of the Derby Heights subdivision in north Lafayette, stood outside his home Saturday afternoon.

"I ain't never seen the water sit out there for so long," he said.

The ditches were full of water, thick with algae and runoff. The cracks on Terry Street where floodwaters had receded just as recently as Friday almost glowed green with it. It's been two weeks since historic rains brought more than 30 inches of water into homes across the parish.

Antoine said he was lucky. Large sections of Derby Heights, a subdivision that sits along a coulee that empties into the Vermilion River, are still inaccessible.

"It was bad, but a lot of people had it worse," he said.

When resident Greg Davis Jr. heard the parish was going to see more than 2 feet of water, he knew what he had to do. After securing his home, Davis started getting people out of their homes. When the waters were too high to walk, he moved people out of their homes by canoe.

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As people continue to repair homes and businesses following August's flood, residents had the opportunity Tuesday to weigh in on how recovery funds will be spent. In this August photo, Lincoln Narcisse, right, and his father-in-law Warren Julien sort through Narcisse' flood-damaged belongings to photograph them for insurance purposes in the Derby Heights neighborhood of Lafayette.
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Eventually, the current of water flowing out from the coulee became too strong to paddle against, so Davis said he got out his flat-bottom boat and continued evacuating people. In all, Davis said he must have evacuated 85 people. Davis and others said the National Guard didn't make it out to Derby Heights until the Monday after the flood. By then, most had been evacuated.

"It was about saving my neighbors," he said. "These are the people I grew up with."

Resident Dinette Hillman said they haven't seen mosquito trucks in the area or garbage trucks on Derby Heights' dry roads. The water left sitting in the ditches can breed thousands of mosquitos in two weeks' time.

"Nothing has been picked up in weeks," she said. "Everyone is saying, 'nobody is coming to help us."

Friday was the first day the waters receded enough for Abraham Rubin to get into his home. The roof over his kids' game room had caved in and everything inside was soaked, but he also counted himself lucky. Many of the people who live in the neighborhood are elderly, he said, and helping them is what the community needs the most right now.

"We need help for the elderlies," he said as his friends cleaned out the damaged room. "I got these cats out here helping me, but some of our older neighbors don't have anyone to rely on. We're all they've got."

One of those elderly residents, Mary Williams, lost everything. Her home took on about six inches of water, and mold quickly formed. Once floodwaters receded enough to get into her home, about 15 of her children, grandchildren and in-laws worked through Saturday morning to save what they could.